Judge dismisses Trump's defamation suit against the Wall Street Journal over the Epstein birthday letter with prejudice
US District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami ruled that President Donald Trump had not shown the newspaper acted with actual malice, and dismissed the case so that it cannot be refiled. Trump's legal team said he would keep pressing the case; a source said an appeal was likely.
A federal judge in Miami on Saturday 31 October dismissed with prejudice President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal over its report on a birthday letter for Jeffrey Epstein, meaning the case cannot be refiled, CBS News reported.
In a 20-page ruling, US District Judge Darrin Gayles found that Trump had not shown the defendants published the report with actual malice, the standard a public figure must meet in a defamation claim. Gayles wrote that the lawsuit was “grasping at straws” in trying to “manufacture” flaws in the newspaper’s reporting, according to CBS News.
The Journal reported in 2025 on a sexually suggestive letter that it said bore Trump’s name and was included in an album compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003. Trump called the story “FAKE” and sued for $20 billion, naming the paper, its parent company News Corp, the company’s chief executive, the reporters and News Corp chairman emeritus Rupert Murdoch. Gayles dismissed an earlier version of the suit in April, and Trump’s lawyers refiled it.
“President Trump will continue to press forward in his powerhouse lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and all of the other defendants,” a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team told CBS News. A source familiar with Trump’s legal strategy said the decision would likely be appealed.
House lawmakers later obtained a redacted copy of the birthday book from Epstein’s estate that included the letter. The White House said at the time that Trump did not draw the picture or sign it.
Sources
- Trump lawsuit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein birthday letter dismissed with prejudice · CBS News
- Trump lawsuit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein birthday letter is dismissed · AP News
- Judge dismisses Trump lawsuit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein birthday letter · The Guardian
- Trump defamation suit vs. Murdoch, WSJ over Epstein letter dismissed · CNBC
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